Ann Laterals Task to JW

By Michael Bromka

One $2 bill recipient is affably remembered by Ann Halford in Carlsbad. The 75th birthday of Milton Limbert was approaching in the summer of 2023, and Ann planned to honor him. She addressed an envelope, inscribed the card’s message, enclosed something modest, affixed a stamp, logged its dispatch, and rollatored 20 yards to her Lakeview Village postbox. What follows is a second-hand account.

“It chanced that our mutual friend was sitting in Milton’s living room when he retrieved his mail,” Ann narrates. “Milton bee-lined to his wastebin to toss junk mail. Just one item aroused interest, evidently a greeting card. He tore open the envelope. With a wry smile, he pulled out my $2 bill, crisp in its clear plastic sleeve. He fished a finger in, pulled out legal tender, tossed the plastic, then glanced at the card. Into the bin it went!” Ann laughs to tell this now.

“Our eyewitness friend chided Milton, but he shrugged. A kindly, shy, unsentimental soul, Milton Limbert. It was his cash to keep and his card to toss.”

For about three decades, Ann Halford has dispatched notes of Attaboy, Attagal, Thank You, and Congratulations. Always, she includes a plastic-sheathed $2 bill. One in a dozen recipients writes back in reciprocal gratitude. Those replies fill up 11 scrapbooks to date.

“Gratitude is as much a gift to the giver as to those being thanked. I began just with speaking a word. You see a janitor mopping? Say, ‘Look how this floor glows, instead of drab and dirty where it’s not yet been mopped! Thank you for your vital work, bringing us joy!’ What does it cost to speak appreciation?” Ann said.

“When a service worker excels, I’ll loop in that person’s boss. Take telephone reps, for instance. If someone with a soothing voice is gracious, I ask for their name, boss’s name, and mailing address to boot. I write notes and include a $2 bill to each, in one envelope. God willing, the boss’s letter will enter the worker’s file. It might nudge a promotion or raise, richly deserved. We make our world better just by giving thanks,” she added.

Ann’s $2 gratitude quest went Olympian when she began rewarding folks who got written up in local, state, and national papers. In one recent spring, she dispatched 380 graduation notes to students at south Eddy County’s four high schools and SENMC nurses (380 times $2; do the math!).

By then, Ann had attracted benefactors. Several would donate stacks of $2 bills, and others would just write a fat check to cover the cash, plastic sleeves, and postage. Until recently, Ann chose each recipient plus addressed many.

Beyond her heroic epistolary hobby, Ann leads or participates in several weekly Bible studies and attends church. Her eyes clouded from macular degeneration, she no longer drives. Kindly friends and parishioners offer rides to outings. She also uses Carlsbad Transit, both fixed route and phone-ahead service.

Perhaps Ann’s favorite bus driver in recent years is JW Sutphin. Retirement Director at the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, JW also drives Lakeview’s bus on field trips that their residents take.

“Ann’s always first to sign up for an outing, no matter to where,” said JW. “I started to see the joy she spread by giving a $2 bill. With her advancing age and dimming eyesight, we’d like to lighten her load.”

Ann looks toward a corporeal finish line with spiritual hopes toward transcendence. Thus, she has asked JW Sutphin to take up her tradition of $2 mass mailouts. He agreed and has streamlined the task. Ann asked that any note explicitly acknowledge God. The arrived-upon line over Ann’s signature is, “Your efforts are a boon to us all. May God bless your lifelong journey!”

If Ann designates a group meriting gratitude, JW handles the mailout. And this creates an opportunity for local individuals, groups, or businesses to also participate. Recent mailouts by JW (which cost up to $3 each) have gone to Cactus Cafe restaurant staff, Carlsbad Cavemen Choir, Carlsbad Community Theater, Community Concert performers, Desert Bloom Dermatology, Globitos hot air balloon pilots, and Lakeside Meats.

Amounting to $600 to date, that cash has flown out of the pocket of JW Sutphin! Looking forward, he will carry on compiling, printing, addressing, and delivering. But he’d be ever so grateful for folks to pony up contributions to offset the $ 3-per-recipient expense.

In return, donors who desire attribution can pen their tasteful and succinct enclosure for mailouts. JW’s e-mail is retirement@carlsbadchamber.com.

Ann Halford’s 97th birthday approaches on Tuesday, March 31. To send her a postcard, write to:

Ann Halford c/o JW Sutphin, 302 S. Canal St., Carlsbad NM 88220-5657.